Mabanda: two women accused of street fuel sales transferred to the Makamba prosecutor’s cell

Two women were transferred to the Makamba prosecutor’s cell (southern Burundi) for illegal fuel sales last Friday. They had been arrested by the Mabanda police (same province) near the communal market two days before. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

At the time of their transfer to the provincial prosecutor’s cell, there were four of them: Claudine Niyongere, Joselyne Nizigama, Julienne Niyukuri and Divine Nimbabazi. The four women had been arrested on September 11. The last two remain in detention.

According to sources in Mabanda, the four women were arrested after a police raid targeting street fuel traders.

These sources labels it “an arbitrary arrest because only 5 liters of gasoline were seized”.

Those who witnessed the scene say the police wanted to arrest people who would be targeted for other unacknowledged reasons because some traders did not have any fuel on them.

“Some had empty plastic bottles, while the real fuel traffickers work in complete peace”, deplores a source on the spot.

Residents who spoke to SOS Médias Burundi, explain that several fuel traffickers carry out their illegal activities in full view of the police and the administration.

“The police and administrators tolerate them because they regularly buy from them or even collaborate with them,” they accuse.

Some are the ones who gave capital for these traffickers or protect them in exchange for substantial bribes.

Residents are demanding the release of these traders “who are breastfeeding and have left small children at home.”

Since the beginning of the fuel shortage crisis, some women in the capital of the commune of Mabanda have been busy, like the men, getting fuel from neighboring Tanzania, which they in turn resell on the black market.